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New Paradigm and Planetary Engagement

in Commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of UN International Day of Peace

Main Theme:"New Paradigm and Planetary Engagement: A Call for responsibility"

Humanity today faces critical challenges. The choice before us is either evolution or extinction. As Pope Francis encyclical, Laudato Si, suggests, unless we, the global community, can find ways to revitalize the healthiness of an integral ecology that incorporates mutually inter-connected human, social, and environmental ecological systems, the human species is not sustainable. The starting point for meeting these challenges is to awaken human minds to the need for radical change of course. This should necessarily lead to a quantum shift in the paradigm of education, especially university education. This Colloquium provided a venue to reflect upon the reality which humanity confronts today and to envision our best course of action, including a new role for higher educational institutions as architects of the future.

New Paradigm and Planetary Engagement: A Call for Responsibility

Sep 22-23, 2016 at Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea

Sept. 21. (Venue: KHU Seoul Campus, Peace Hall)

10:30 AM Commemorating Ceremony of the 35th International Day of Peace

3:00 PM ~ 5:30 PM Round Table I Transformation of Civilization and the Path of Conscious

Panelists:

- Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, President, World Academy of Art & Science; President, World University Consortium

- Roberto Peccei, Vice President of Club of Rome and Trustee of World Academy of Art & Science

One 15 min presentation and 2 panel responses followed up open discussion on each topic.

Colloquium Session I: New Paradigm in Human Ecology

The multidimensional challenges confronting humanity today present compelling evidence of the need for a radical shift in global development theory, strategy and policy. Human relationships are the foundation for wealth creation, human security, well-being, civilization and culture. A new paradigm in human ecology envisions a shift from the exclusive preoccupation with quantitative macro-economic growth and mechanistic solutions to social problems to a targeted effort to maximize the benefits of development in terms of human dignity, security, welfare and well-being for all people. It seeks to generate and release human energy, creativity, dynamism and initiative, to foster positive relationships and provide effective avenues for the fullest expression of this human potential in action.

Co-Chair: Garry Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, World Academy of Art & Science; Chairman of the Board, World University Consortium

Session 1A: Human-centered development

This session will examine the concept of human-centered development, the core elements of a comprehensive shift in strategy, the means to effectuate change, the potential impact on the development of human potential and creativity, and its benefits to society. Discussion questions for this session:

What would constitute a human-centered conception of development?

What would be its essential elements?

What are the values on which it would be based?

What would be its primary source of its power and the driving forces for its realization?

What changes would it entail in the functioning of social institutions?

How would it impact on public policy?

Speaker:Winston Nagan, Chairman of the Board, World Academy of Art & Science

Panelist:Erich Hoedl, Vice-President of European Academy for Sciences and Arts; former Rector at Wuppertal University, Germany

Session 1B: Independent Thinking, Creativity and Individuality

A new paradigm in human-ecology seeks to more fully develop and harness the unlimited creative power of human beings and human relationships. This session will focus on ideas, strategies and institutional mechanisms to maximize the opportunities for development and expression of human initiative, creativity and originality. Discussion questions for this session:

How to encourage for the development of independent thinking in all fields of social existence?

How can human creativity and innovation be fostered?

What is ‘individuality’ and what would be the role of the individual in the new paradigm?

What type of relationship should it foster between the individual and the social collective?

Society is a vast, complex and ever-evolving network of organized human relationships. Organization is the core technology and central building block for development of society. Prevailing social theories tend to reduce our conception of society and organization to static, fragmented, mechanistic, materialistic theories and quantitative models. New paradigm thinking should reflect the vibrantly alive, organic wholeness and integration of society and the evolutionary creative potential of organization for human development.

Society is the mother of all human invention. It is the rich reservoir of knowledge, skills, organizational know-how and technology from which individuals and businesses continuously draw inspiration and materials for creativity, innovation and social evolution. Economy is a subset of society and completely dependent on the wider society for its growth and development. Businesses are children of the society. They grow and flourish in the measure they are in harmony with the evolving needs and potentials of the social collective. This session will explore the relationship between society, economy and business. Discussion questions for this session:

What would a human-capital intensive strategy for economy and business look like and what would be its main characteristics?

How would it differ from the current paradigm?

What is the most effective strategy for implemented a human-capital intensive strategy in business and economy?

How would it impact on economic and management theory?

Speaker:Neantro Saavedra-Rivano, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Panelists:Erich Hoedl, Vice-President of European Academy for Sciences and Arts; former Rector at Wuppertal University, Germany

Session 2B: Toward an Integrated Science of Society

This session will explore the potential for development of a value-based, trans-disciplinary, evolutionary theory of society which takes into account the complex inter-linkages and interrelationships between the different fields of social science, identifies underlying principles common to all fields of social science, restores a central position to subjective human experience in social science theory and policy, recognizes the central role of social organization and social power in determining the distribution of social benefits, and promotes the fullest contribution of the individual as the catalyst of social progress.

How should the social sciences evolve in future to reflect the organic unity and vibrant complexity of human society?

How can the objective and subjective dimensions of social reality be incorporated in a unified field of society?

What insights can social sciences draw from the natural sciences regarding the need and potential for integration of disciplines?

What underlying principles can be identified that are applicable to all fields of social science?

Speaker:Garry Jacobs

Panelists:Winston Nagan

Colloquium Session III: New Paradigm in Education

Education is the most powerful instrument developed by humanity to promote its own conscious social evolution. Education draws on the cumulative experience of humanity over millennia and passes it on to future generations in a concentrated and abridged form so that each new generation can start off in possession of all the knowledge acquired by humanity in the past. But the increasingly rapid pace of social evolution makes it increasingly difficult for education to keep up with the advances of civilization. As a result, there is a growing time warp and gap between the type of education being offered and the needs of individuals and society. A new paradigm is needed to close the gap.

Co-Chair:Heitor Gurgulino de de Souza, President, World Academy of Art & Science and World University Consortium.

Session 3A: Person-centered education

The current global educational system focuses on delivery of subject content to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for employment and career success. But the rapid pace of technological and social development makes it increasingly difficult to anticipate future needs. Lifelong learning is becoming essential. More than any specific set of knowledge and skills, students need to learn how to learn. A shift in educational content and pedagogy is needed to emphasize the central importance of values, personality and individuality.

What is person-centered education and how does it different from the prevailing subject-centric model?

What changes would be needed in the pedagogy and delivery system for higher education to fully promote a person-centered model?

What benefits can be expected from the shift from subject to student?

Speaker:Alberto Zucconi

Panelists:Stefan Brunnhuber

Session 3B: Future of Higher Education: Emerging Role of University in the Age of Global Collaboration

If you were asked to develop a global system of higher education designed to delivery world-class quality in a manner accessible and affordable to all human beings, how would you do it? How would that system differ from the prevailing approach? What kind of quantum shift is needed in the paradigm for managing higher educational institutions? What criteria should be adopted by a global evaluation system of universities in order to steer us in the right direction.

What changes might be required in pedagogy?

What changes might be required to alter the content of higher education?

What changes might be required in the global delivery system for higher education?

What might be the overall benefit of a World University system on humanity's peace, prosperity and development?

What alternative system for University evaluation might be adopted to lead higher educational institutions today in the right direction?

Speaker:Ivo Šlaus

Panelists:Roberto Peccei, Vice-President, Club of Rome; Member of the Board of Trustees, World Academy of Art & Science; Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Former Vice Chancellor for Research, UCLA.

Main menu

OVERVIEW

The World Academy of Art and Science is composed of 730 individual Fellows from diverse cultures, nationalities, and intellectual disciplines, chosen for eminence in art, the natural and social sciences, and the humanities. Established in 1960 by distinguished individuals concerned by the impact of the explosive growth of knowledge, its activities seek to address global issues related to the social consequences and policy implications of knowledge. The Academy serves as a forum for reflective scientists, artists, and scholars to discuss the vital problems of humankind independent of political boundaries or limits, whether spiritual or physical -- a forum where these problems can be discussed objectively, scientifically, globally, and free from vested interests or regional attachments, to arrive at solutions that affirm universal human rights and serve the interests of all humanity. WAAS is founded on faith in the power of original and creative ideas -- Real Ideas with effective power -- to change the world. Its motto is "Leadership in thought that leads to action."

The spirit of the Academy can be expressed in the words of Albert Einstein: "The creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind." Its Fellows share the ambition (as the Founders said in their 1960 Manifesto) "to rediscover the language of mutual understanding," surmounting differences in tradition, language, and social structure which, unless fused by creative imagination and continuous effort, dissolve the latent human commonwealth in contention and conflict.

The aim of the Academy's founders was to function as "an informal WORLD UNIVERSITY at the highest scientific and ethical level, in which deep human understanding and the fullest sense of responsibility will meet."

MISSION

The World Academy of Art and Science is an association of committed individuals drawn from diverse cultures, nationalities, occupations and intellectual pursuits spanning the arts, humanities and sciences, conscious of the profound social consequences and policy implications of knowledge, and united by a common aspiration to address the urgent challenges and emerging opportunities confronting humanity today. Our mission is to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue generative of original ideas and integrated perspectives that comprehend the root causes and effective remedies for our common problems, while furthering those currents of thought and social movement that affirm the value of human dignity and equitable development. The Academy dedicates itself to the pursuit of creative, catalytic ideas that can provide to present and future generations enlightened leadership in thought that leads to effective action.

HISTORY

The idea of founding an international association for exploring major concerns of humanity in a nongovernmental context grew out of many conversations that took place among leading scientists and intellectuals in the years following World War II. Prominent among this group were people such as Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer who had played a part in the development of the atomic bomb and were deeply concerned about how it and other scientific advances might be used – or misused.

This informal project took a major step forward in 1956, when a meeting – The First International Conference on Science and Human Welfare – was held in Washington, D. C. The organizers were two American scientists: Richard Montgomery Field of Princeton, who had worked for many years as chairman of an international committee on the social values of science; and John A. Fleming, former President of the International Council of Scientific Unions. At the end of the conference, participants agreed to take steps toward the formation of a World Academy, and elected an International Preparatory Committee for that purpose. Its members were: (from France) Pierre Chouard, George Laclavére and G. Le Lionnaise; (from the United Kingdom) Ritchie Calder, H. Munro Fox and Joseph Needham; and (from the United States) Robert Oppenheimer.

The Academy was formally founded (and its first officers elected) in 1960. They were: as President, Lord John Boyd Orr of Scotland; as Vice Presidents, Hermann Joseph Muller of the United States and Hugo Ostvald of Sweden; and, as Secretary General, Hugo Boyko of Israel.

Advisors to the Board

PARTNERS

HOW TO DONATE TO THE ACADEMY

The World Academy is incorporated in the State of California and Fellows elected from 86 different countries. WAAS is recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt private foundation under section 501(c)(3).

CADMUS JOURNAL

Cadmus is a journal for fresh thinking and new perspectives that integrate knowledge from all fields of science, art and humanities to address real-life issues, inform policy and decision-making, and enhance our collective response to the challenges and opportunities facing the world today.

ERUDITIO E-JOURNAL

Eruditio is the electronic journal of the World Academy of Art & Science. The vision of the Journal complements and enhances the World Academy's focus on global perspectives in the generation of knowledge from all fields of legitimate inquiry.

The Journal also mirrors the World Academy's specific focus and mandate which is to consider the social consequences and policy implications of knowledge in the broadest sense. It is a multidisciplinary forum focused on the social consequences and policy implications of all forms of knowledge on a global basis.

PAPERS BY CATEGORY

BOOKS

The Security & Sustainability Guide

A 250-page “Interim Draft” PDF of The S&S Guide, a project of the World Academy of Art & Science, will be available for limited distribution free of charge. It reflects the critical fact that sustainability and security are both essential and can only be achieved in concert. The Guide is incomplete, but the compilers believe that, even in its current state, many will find it useful for illuminating many of the most serious problems facing humanity under the broad, overlapping categories of “Security” (weapons proliferation, terrorism, cyber-attacks, economic and food insecurity, human rights, peacemaking, crime and corruption, inadequate infrastructure, etc.) and “Sustainability” (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, energy, agriculture, population growth, cities, oceans, forests, vulnerability to disasters, green economics and nance, etc.)

Democracy is under siege. Traditional bastions of liberal democracy are faltering. Young democracies are reverting to their authoritarian pasts. Populism, corporatization of the media, fake news, retreat from globalism, oligarchy, corruption and other perils are undermining fairness, effectiveness and truthfulness. Just when it appeared that the world was converging on a universal set of values and standards for governance at the national and international level, fundamental questions are being raised regarding the viability and sustainability of democratic institutions. Recent events raise fundamental questions regarding the institutions of governance and also about the underlying social, psychological, cultural and evolutionary processes that determine how these institutions function.

Is democracy in its current form really the most viable and effective system of governance? Are human beings sufficiently rational and selfless to govern themselves justly and effectively? Is the future of democracy at the national level compatible with the persistence of non-democratic institutions at the international level? By what process has the distribution of social power shifted from army, monarchy, aristocracy to democracy and how is that process likely to evolve further in future? To what extent are the institutional problems confronting democracy today reflections of underlying social, psychological and cultural factors and processes? What proven and potential safeguards and remedies are available to address the failures and insufficiencies of contemporary democracies? Is democracy the best possible system or merely a stage in the evolution of governance toward something more stable, an effective and equitable system?

Mind is humanity's highest developed instrument for seeking knowledge. It is the master tool that we use to comprehend the present, remember the past, and anticipate and plan for the future. From the act of striking two flints together to create fire to combining strings of 1s and 0s to design the code for supercomputers, mind has enabled humanity to create remarkable technologies and organized global institutions. The mind is the unifying foundation on which humanity’s entire social evolution is based. To understand this vital instrument better, the World Academy of Art & Science and World University Consortium have launched a ground-breaking project to explore Mind, Thinking and Creativity. A greater understanding of the nature of mind, its ways of knowing, the limits to thinking and rationality, mind's untapped potential, the workings of creativity and genius are essential for addressing the challenges confronting humanity today.

In April 2016 WAAS and WUC, along with partnering organizations IACP, IUC, DHUC, and MSS organized a four-day roundtable on Mind, Thinking and Creativity 2016 at Dubrovnik, Croatia for to explore fundamental questions. The meeting was attended by experts from different fields of natural and social science, including medicine, neuroscience, engineering, psychology, sociology, economics, law, and philosophy. Video recordings, presentations and papers for the roundtable are available here. The enthusiastic interest generated by the Dubrovnik meeting spurred efforts of WAAS and the World University Consortium to commence work on a on-line course on this subject which is now underway. A report on last year's meeting including videos and presentations was included in the Academy's July 2016 newsletter.

Roundtable 2 -- November 2017 at Dubrovnik

The second roundtable on Mind, Thinking & Creativity is being conducted by the World University Consortium, the World Academy of Art & Science, the Mother's Service Society, Person-Centered Approach Institute, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and the Inter-University Centre from November 6-8, 2017 at Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

A Post-Graduate Certificate Course in Human-Centered Economics will be conducted by the World Academy of Art & Science, the World University Consortium, The Mother's Service Society, Person-Centered Approach Institute, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia from Feb 1-Feb 3,2017 at Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The multidimensional challenges confronting humanity today are human-made and can be changed by a change in thought and action. Contemporary economic thought is built on a mind-frame that originated prior to the Industrial Revolution when scarcity of goods in a world of abundant resources was the primary concern, economic growth was considered synonymous with human welfare, and impact of humanity on the environment was completely ignored. Without challenging obvious flaws in existing theory, it will be not be possible to significantly alter current policies and practices.

The overall aim of the course is to (a) demonstrate why mainstream neo-classical economic theory is inappropriate for dealing with the global challenges of the c.21st, and (b) explore alternative approaches for achieving ecologically sustainable, human-centered development and welfare for all.

This course will present the findings of a five year research program of the World Academy of Art & Science and the on-going work of the New Economic Theory working group. It will harness the best available ideas and practices on human-centred, sustainable economy to create informative, authoritative and compelling educational and communication tools with the power to challenge and alter university level education in Economics, public policy, business decisions, media coverage and general public opinion regarding how the world economy should and can work for the betterment of all humanity.

A Post-Graduate Certificate Course in Social Power, Empowerment & Social Evolution will be conducted by the World Academy of Art & Science, the World University Consortium, The Mother's Service Society, Person-Centered Approach Institute, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia from Oct 31-Nov 4, 2016 at Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Humanity lives in a time of unprecedented capacity for accomplishment in every field of social life. Never before have we possessed power of this magnitude for good or for evil. Never before has power been so widely distributed within society. Democracy, law, human rights, science, technology, education and many other forms of social organization have generated immense power. Society governs the possession and exercise of this power through formal structures and institutions, such as law and human rights, as well as through both legitimate and extra-legal informal mechanisms including status, wealth, popularity, political influence and corruption. The distribution of power in its various forms powerfully impacts on the functioning of the economy, political system, educational, scientific, religious and and other social institutions, and on the overall productivity, strength, integrity, harmony and welfare of society. This transdisciplinary course will explore the sources, expressions, determinants and consequences of the creation, distribution and exercise of social power in its various expressions in politics, economy, society and culture and its consequences for the evolution of society as a whole.

Mind is humanity’s highest developed instrument for seeking knowledge. It is an instrument with remarkable capabilities and characteristic limitations. It is ironic that we invest so little time in education and scientific endeavor trying to understand the nature of mental knowledge and the character of the mental processes by which we arrive at it. The objective of this course is to arrive at an understanding of the inherent limits to rationality and mental ways of knowing, as well as the extraordinary creative and intuitive processes by which mind transcends those limitations and tends toward genius.

Thinking is the activity by which mind associates, organizes, coordinates and integrates information, thoughts and ideas. Creative thinking is the process by which mind extends the boundaries of existing thought and knowledge to connect, reconcile and unify previously unconnected or contradictory perspectives. This course will explore the characteristics of mental knowledge and thought processes, types of thinking, the character of rational thought, the mental and social construction of knowledge, deep thinking, creativity and genius. Rather than focus on abstract philosophical concepts, it will apply this knowledge to understand both the sources of humanity’s prolific mental creativity, the characteristic problems it confronts due to irresolvable conflicts and contradictions between mental perspectives, and their resolution in different fields of natural and social science, public policy, collective and individual behavior.

A Post-Graduate Certificate Course in Future Education was conducted by the World Academy of Art & Science, the World University Consortium, The Mother's Service Society, Person-Centered Approach Institute, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia from September 21-23, 2015 at Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Education is our best hope for a better future. Emergence of a new paradigm in education can radically abridge the time required for humanity to address critical issues related to economy, governance, ecology and life-style. Education is the best known instrument for ensuring universal human rights, promoting democracy, enhancing productivity and protecting the environment.There is urgent need to evolve a new paradigm in education appropriate to the needs of the 21st century. Closing the gap between social needs and educational capabilities is essential for addressing pressing challenges confronting humanity today. A review of education today makes evident that there is enormous scope for improving and developing the educational system. Whatever its current limitations in terms of inadequate coverage, quality and content, the means and potential exist for dramatically enhancing humanity’s individual and collective performance in virtually all spheres of our social existence by realistic, achievable improvements in education. We need a new paradigm in education capable of more fully and effectively developing the latent capacities of our youth.

A Post-Graduate Certificate Course in Essence of Effective Leadership was conducted by the World Academy of Art & Science, the World University Consortium, The Mother's Service Society, Person-Centered Approach Institute, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy and Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia from March 31 to April 3, 2015 at Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This course explored the characteristics common to leaders in business, politics, civil society, science, arts, professions and education and examined methods by which these characteristics can be consciously developed by individuals. The presentations consist of theory, practical strategies, and a wide range of examples drawn from biography, history, management, and literature from movies illustrating the principles under discussion. Apart from the presentations, our faculty interacted with participants to bring home the theoretical significance and practical relevance of the material.

The Individual is the catalyst of all social progress, the source of creativity, innovation, new ideas and new initiatives. The individual is the genetic source of human diversity. The entrepreneur, inventor, social reformer, revolutionary leader, original thinker and creative artist are a few of individuality's expressions. Yet how little we understand about the characteristics of true individuality, the ways in which it expresses, the means for developing it, and the means for realizing real individuality in one’s own life.

History demonstrates that individuals have the power to change the world. This course explored the relationship between personality and accomplishment. It examined the role of Individuality and Values in personal achievement, growth of personality and social progress drawing on evidence from Management Science, History, Psychology and Literature. It explored the relationship between creative individuals and society searching for insights into the principles and process that govern successful human initiatives and their consequences in various fields of life.

The course was intended for both students and practitioners in all fields interested in advancing theoretical understanding and practical approaches to promote the development of entrepreneurship, individuality, creativity, original thinking and other forms of social innovation. It explored the role of the individual in development of society, elucidated the characteristics of true individuals, the source of their amazing power for accomplishment and the process by which they act as catalysts of social innovation. While the presentation was academic, the objective was to impart original insights and practical knowledge for personal growth and individuation.

Today humanity is confronted by a plethora of serious challenges – political, economic, legal, social, cultural, psychological and ecological. These challenges are complex, interrelated, and global in reach. They are a reflection of the inadequacy of current institutions and policies and at a deeper level the inadequacy of current knowledge. They defy comprehension and resolution based on the prevailing principles of social science. The specialized knowledge developed by separate disciplines is inadequate to deal with the increasingly complex interdependencies of the real world. Knowledge needs to evolve to keep pace with the evolution of society.

The evolution of a complex, highly integrated global society necessitates the development of a more comprehensive and integrated science of society. The division into various specialized fields has been a useful mental strategy for the development of the social sciences, leading to significant advances in all fields – knowledge which needs to be preserved and enhanced by future developments. Yet it is increasingly evident that a more comprehensive and integrated approach is now required. As society evolves, its different functions develop greater complexity. At the same time they become more closely and complexly interlinked and interdependent on one another. Economy today is highly dependent on the political system and laws governing the distribution and enforcement of power in society, legal concepts regarding ownership of property and human rights, public institutions responsible for the creation and management of money, rules for commerce between nations, public policies influencing income and wealth distribution, processes that determine collective decision-making, public investment in education and training, and social expectations regarding economy and the future, etc. A recent announcement by the White House of an ‘intention’ to examine measures to discourage shifting of US firms to tax havens overseas resulted in a 10% fall in market value for several large firms.

Strategic Planning Committee Program Framework

Being a world academy composed of members drawn from the arts, social and physical sciences, humanities, business, public administration and civil society poses fundamental questions. How can WAAS distinguish itself from other national and regional academies? Is there really a common meeting point between art and science? Is there a unique contribution that WAAS can make to the world’s knowledge?

At the New Delhi General Assembly, Fellows explored facets of a new program framework developed by the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) which seeks to answer these questions in the affirmative. Rather than distinguish itself by specializing on a particular set of disciplines, issues or geographic area, the framework is an attempt to formulate a comprehensive approach and integrated perspective of knowledge inclusive of all disciplinary perspectives and applicable to social problems and opporunities in all fields.

The core of the framework is a human-centered conception of what constitutes reliable knowing, a question posed to the SPC by Ruben Nelson. In his presentation to the GA, Garry Jacobs explained how this conception applies to WAAS’s projects on new economic theory, individuality and limits to rationality. Pushpa Bhargava pointed out that a human centered perspective naturally incorporates ecology, since the survival and full development of humanity depends on its capacity to evolve in harmony with the environment.

New Paradigm Program

Scope: The world confronts multiple crises, each of which resists current efforts at resolution and appears intractable. The environmental crisis of climate change occupied the center stage in the mid-2000s. Fears of nuclear weapons proliferation, which had subsided into complacency in the years following the end of the Cold War, suddenly surfaced with renewed intensity when Korea tested nuclear weapons and long range missiles and news surfaced of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program in 2007.

Then the subprime mortgage crisis exploded in late 2008, spreading havoc through financial markets across the world. It was followed quickly by a sudden and substantial slowing of economic growth in OECD countries, rising levels of unemployment and most recently a crisis of excessive government debt.

In spite of the enormous attention being given to each of these issues by specialists nationally and internationally, progress on all fronts appears to be nearly at a standstill or at least far too slow to meet pressing human concerns. The times we live in are a Wild West of globalization and the unbridled, unregulated expansion of international activities threatens to destabilize and undermine the remarkable progress of the previous five decades.

This project is predicated on the assumption that each of these problems defies solution because they all represent problems that transcend the sovereign powers of the nation-state. None of them can be fully and satisfactorily addressed by nation-states acting individually. All are symptoms of the evolution of world society to a stage where concerted and coordinated global action is required to meet the collective needs of humanity for peace, security, financial stability, economic welfare and sustainable development. This project has been conceived to address the underlying and interrelated issues that all these challenges pose to global governance.

World University Consortium

The mission of World University Consortium is to evolve and promote development of accessible, affordable, quality higher education worldwide based on a human-centered approach that shifts the emphasis from specialized expertise to contextualized knowledge within a trans-disciplinary conceptual framework reflecting the complexity and integration of the real world, from teaching mastery of a field of knowledge to learning that enhances the capacity of students to think and discover knowledge for themselves, from theoretical mastery to acquisition of knowledge, skills and values relevant to each individual’s personal development and career – an educational system better suited to develop the full potentials of social personality and individuality for productive engagement, social welfare and psychological well-being. The objectives are:

Identify global best practices and develop effective global models and strategies to improve accessibility, affordability, quality, innovation and relevance in higher education appropriate to the needs of the 21st century.

Develop innovative, open learning systems and more effective models that extend the reach of quality higher education to people of all age groups globally.

Explore new models of online and hybrid delivery systems designed to facilitate learning through teacher-student and student-student interaction.

Enhance the learning process through research, development and application of advanced instruments for measurement and evaluation of educational processes.

NEW ECONOMIC THEORY

A multidisciplinary group from the World Academy of Art & Science and the Club of Rome are leading a quest for a new human-centered theory of economics that reflects recent changes resulting from the emergence of a service-based economy, globalization, rising social aspirations and changing values, and is integrated with political, social, ecological, technological, and cultural factors from which it is inseparable.

TRANS-DISCIPLINARY DIALOGUE ON MIND, THINKING AND CREATIVITY

Mind is humanity’s highest developed instrument for seeking knowledge. It is an instrument with remarkable capabilities and characteristic limitations. It is ironic that we invest so little time in education and scientific endeavor trying to understand the nature of mental knowledge and the character of the mental processes by which we arrive at it.

The objective of this project is to arrive at an understanding of the inherent limits to rationality and mental ways of knowing, as well as the extraordinary creative and intuitive processes by which mind transcends those limitations and tends toward genius.

PROGRAM ON GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT CHALLENGE

Access to employment is the most essential requirement for providing economic security to the world’s burgeoning population.

This interdisciplinary dialogue explores theoretical and practical aspects of the global employment challenge, including its demographic, economic, legal, political, psychological dimensions as well as linkages with the international financial crisis, social stability, and terrorism.

EVOLUTION OF INDIVIDUALITY

Individuality is the crown of human evolution and the catalyst for social progress, yet there are very different conceptions of what constitutes true individuality, the relationship between the individual and society, and whether humanity is inevitably evolving toward higher levels of individuality.

This project will explore the essential nature of individuality, the social and cultural factors that foster it, its role in social development, its myriad expressions in the original thinker, creative artist, political leader, entrepreneur, inventor and social innovator, and the means available to society to foster it.

GLOBAL RULE OF LAW

The evolution of international law and human rights represent crucial threads in the progressive development of global rule of law.

This project will explore the relationship between the social, political and legal dimensions of global rule of law in an effort to frame the boundaries of a wider approach to the evolution of global governance. Emphasis will be place to re-examining the concept of national sovereignty and the common rights of humanity in an increasingly globalized world.

NEW SCIENCES

In 2013 WAAS launched a project to explore important developments in recently emerging fields of science, with e-conferences on the Science of Networks and the Science of Complexity. The project involves an application of concepts and tools from the new sciences relevant to address the global challenges confronting humanity today and to the evolution of a transdisciplinary science of society.

PROGRAM ON ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The devastating consequences of nuclear war and the potential destructive applications of science and technology were paramount concerns among Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Robert Oppenheimer, Joseph Rotblat and others which led to the founding of the World Academy in 1960.

Nuclear disarmament is a sine qua non for effectively addressing other issues of global important – terrorism, financial stability, unemployment, poverty, climate change, democratization of the UN and other aspects of global governance. In recent years, the Academy has conducted numerous conferences, seminars and workshops and collaborating with other organizations in an effort to promote concrete steps toward immediate and total global nuclear disarmament.

The Security & Sustainability Guide

A 250-page “Interim Draft” PDF of The S&S Guide, a project of the World Academy of Art & Science, will be available for limited distribution free of charge. It reflects the critical fact that sustainability and security are both essential and can only be achieved in concert. The Guide is incomplete, but the compilers believe that, even in its current state, many will find it useful for illuminating many of the most serious problems facing humanity under the broad, overlapping categories of “Security” (weapons proliferation, terrorism, cyber-attacks, economic and food insecurity, human rights, peacemaking, crime and corruption, inadequate infrastructure, etc.) and “Sustainability” (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, energy, agriculture, population growth, cities, oceans, forests, vulnerability to disasters, green economics and nance, etc.)